So how do you say "GTIA"?

[NorbertP]

Just watched a YouTube video and heard what, to me, was a really weird way of saying GTIA, but the uploader swears he's spoken to former Atari employees and his pronunciation is "correct" (and he gave a fairly plausible backup argument that until now had never occurred to me). Like GIF I've been saying it my way for far too long and it would take way too much mental effort to switch to the Technically Correct™ version if it turns out I've been wrong for 30+ years, but I'm curious as to what the consensus is.

[+x=usr(1536)]

Golf Tango India Alpha

 

But yes, I go for spelling out the full acronym, and always have.  Out of curiosity, which video is the one you're referring to?

[NorbertP]

It's this one. Someone commented that he's saying it weird, and I guess the part of his defence where he points out that the 7800 had the Maria is semi-plausible - it almost rhymes with G-Tier and makes sense in a "Tia Maria" fashion - but I remain largely unconvinced.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 11/10/2022 at 8:35 AM, NorbertP said:

It's this one. Someone commented that he's saying it weird, and I guess the part of his defence where he points out that the 7800 had the Maria is semi-plausible - it almost rhymes with G-Tier and makes sense in a "Tia Maria" fashion - but I remain largely unconvinced.

Ah, yeah, that's a Kieren Hawken (aka 'The Laird's Lair' on YouTube) video.  He's not in the least bit trustworthy or authoritative.  I won't get into the specifics of it, but some Googling should tell you what you may want to know.

[zzip]

I've always spelled it out

 

But to make this more confusing, I had an Atari book back in the day that said the G in GTIA stood for 'George'

[NorbertP]

1 hour ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Ah, yeah, that's a Kieren Hawken (aka 'The Laird's Lair' on YouTube) video.  He's not in the least bit trustworthy or authoritative.  I won't get into the specifics of it, but some Googling should tell you what you may want to know.

Oof, just read a review of one of his books. I will ignore him from now on!

 

1 hour ago, zzip said:

But to make this more confusing, I had an Atari book back in the day that said the G in GTIA stood for 'George'

Either it was an oft-repeated "fact" or I had that same book - I distinctly remember reading that somewhere.

[+Stephen]

The George was in fact George McLeod.  He was major designer of the CTIA (which became the GTIA) chip.

 

  - George McLeod designed the CTIA (Colleen TIA) and Doug Neubauer designed the POKEY (POtentiometers and KEYboard interface.) taken from https://www.landley.net/history/mirror/atari/museum/joedecuir.html

[Ecernosoft]

On 11/10/2022 at 8:24 AM, x=usr(1536) said:

Golf Tango India Alpha

 

But yes, I go for spelling out the full acronym, and always have.  Out of curiosity, which video is the one you're referring to?

This made me Lol for real….  

[Keatah]

There is no R in GTIA. So Gee-Tier makes no sense.

[+fdr4prez]

if i saw this for the first time, I would have said it like "G" "TIA" (like in tee-ah), so gee-tee-ah

[Cebus Capucinis]

I spell out the letters.

 

Enn-Ee-Arr-Dee.

[zzip]

13 hours ago, Keatah said:

There is no R in GTIA. So Gee-Tier makes no sense.

unless you live in New England, then adding R-sounds to words with no R's and dropping R-sounds from words with R's is the norm..   😄

 

"That's against the lawr"

"Ahh you sca-yed of the dock?"  (are you scared of the dark)

[+Stephen]

We choose to pronounce GTIA this way not because it's easy, but because it's haaaaaaaaad.

[+save2600]

Oh cool, an opportunity to kindly poke fun at accents or pronunciations! 🤣

 

Ran across a YouTuber that pronounces 'Boss' as "Baahss". It's odd as I don't really detect a specific regional accent otherwise. First time I heard it, had to rewind a few times to figure out what he was saying and that was probably just due to context! ha

 

I've since been told whenever you hear boss pronounced that way, usually when a rancher is trying to round up their cattle. And they say it so quickly, seems like one word... COMEBAAHSS, COMEBAAHSS! 

 

'Course up by MN and the U.P., you might just be warshing your laundry instead of washing it. 🤪

[+Stephen]

6 hours ago, save2600 said:

Oh cool, an opportunity to kindly poke fun at accents or pronunciations!

Yes, it's always fun to make fun of how other people speak I was made fun of mercilessly as a super young kid for having an English accent (among I'm sure a dozen more), as both of my parents were born and raised over there (all aunts, uncles, etc.)  They never lost their accent so of course with that being all I ever heard, that's what I learned until pre-school.  Came home one day and asked "if I could talk American" - lol.  I don't remember this, was too young.  I think the only word I say funny to this day though, is garage (gar igz - ala Elton John's song Levon).

[+save2600]

22 hours ago, Stephen said:

Yes, it's always fun to make fun of how other people speak I was made fun of mercilessly as a super young kid for having an English accent ...

Weird! People with English accents usually had/have the advantage pop culturally, dating wise, etc. here. Zero compassion that way, so piss off you bloody tart!  🤣

[+x=usr(1536)]

2 hours ago, Stephen said:

Yes, it's always fun to make fun of how other people speak

Particularly when they're also English speakers

2 hours ago, Stephen said:

I was made fun of mercilessly as a super young kid for having an English accent (among I'm sure a dozen more), as both of my parents were born and raised over there (all aunts, uncles, etc.)  They never lost their accent so of course with that being all I ever heard, that's what I learned until pre-school.  Came home one day and asked "if I could talk American" - lol.  I don't remember this, was too young.

I grew up learning three different main dialects of English (US, Irish, UK), each with its own sub-dialect specific to the area we lived in.  Despite having lived in the US for the last 24 years, there are things that I say and write that are at odds with that residency.  In other words, my use of the language is a mish-mash of doing things correctly and speaking American

2 hours ago, Stephen said:

I think the only word I say funny to this day though, is garage (gar igz - ala Elton John's song Levon).

Gare-udge in my case, and 'simultaneous' has a short 'i'.  Oh, and seeing right-hand-drive cars in a movie, etc. doesn't really tend to register with me as being odd or unusual

[The Usotsuki]

Although I speak American English, it has some influence from Canadian English because I grew up close enough to the border to pick up CBC and CTV and to frequently visit Canada.

 

Canadian English sounds, to me, like Americans trying to speak the Queen's English with their own accent.

[+GoldLeader]

 

I hear that in Canada,   It's pronounced  G - T - I  eh?

[MrTrust]

There should be a third option where you pronounce them all phonetically, and it sounds like "git-chya".  Not that I would say it that way, but I imagine someone might.  I'm not sure I've ever said it out loud or heard anyone else do.  I would think "gee-tee-uh" would be the most sensible way to say it.  Referring to the 2600's TIA, it seems nautral to sub-vocalize it as "tee-uh" and I believe I have heard it referred to that way several times, and since GTIA and CTIA are both related, it makes sense to see the first letter as a modifier distinguishing which kind of TIA to which you're referring.  The emphasis would naturally fall on the first letter "GEE-tee-uh", "SEE-tee-uh".

 

 

[Albert]

The rare times I actually get to say this out loud I always spell it out as "G-T-I-A". 
 

  ..Al

[Albert]

Also, please do not link to any Kieren Kawken content here. The guy is a pathological liar and an overall horrible person. 
 

Thank you,

 

  ..Al

[MrMaddog]

Question...why do Brits always "pronounce" acronyms like they're actual words, especially where there aren't any vowels in the middle?

 

Like they say SNES as "Ze-Nezz"... instead of just spelling the letters out.

 

[zzip]

20 hours ago, Stephen said:

I think the only word I say funny to this day though, is garage (gar igz - ala Elton John's song Levon).

For the longest time I had no idea what that word even was when an English person said it.   it sounded like something exotic

 

 

[NorbertP]

6 hours ago, MrMaddog said:

Question...why do Brits always "pronounce" acronyms like they're actual words, especially where there aren't any vowels in the middle?

 

Like they say SNES as "Ze-Nezz"... instead of just spelling the letters out.

 

If if forms a pronounceable word then we pronounce it as if it was a word. It's not just Brits, either - pretty much everyone pronounces "scuba" as "scoober" not "ess see you bee eh"; see also radar, PIN, sonar, etc. Furthermore, SCSI, ASCII, WYSIWYG, and probably a bunch of others that on the face of it aren't pronounceable are still almost universally rendered as words - scuzzy, ass-key, wizzywig - rather than read out one letter at a time.

 

Perhaps a better question is why do Americans not say "snezz"?

Edited November 19, 2022 by NorbertP